It was penalty heartbreak again for the Netherlands in the World Cup as Argentina progress to the semi-finals. Netherlands battled back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw but Argentina won the penalty shootout.
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Louis van Gaal made only one change to the side that defeated the USA with Steven Bergwijn returning to the starting eleven. Cody Gakpo dropped to number ten while Davy Klaassen was on the bench.
From the start, the Netherlands looked to keep the ball and remain calm in possession. There were few chances until Argentina took the lead in the 35th minute when Lionel Messi played in Nahuel Molina to poke the ball past Andries Noppert and into the net.
Teun Koopmeiners and Steven Berghuis emerged at the break but they could not bring creativity to the Dutch side that created very little.
With twenty minutes left, Denzel Dumfries brought down Acuna in the box and Messi made it 2-0 from the spot.
Van Gaal went route one for the final minutes with Luuk de Jong and Wout Weghorst up front and it worked fantastically. Firstly, Weghorst made it 2-1 with a well-finished header before Berghuis almost equalised with a fierce strike.
In the final minutes of extra time, Gakpo earned a free-kick on the edge of the box and a well-worked routine saw Koopmeiners set up Weghorst to make it 2-2 in dramatic circumstances.
Netherlands went into defensive mode in extra time and they managed to keep Argentina out thanks to Andries Noppert and the post.
The match went to penalties just like it did in 2014 and just like it did then, Argentina went through. Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis saw their spot kicks saved.
An end to the World Cup for the Netherlands and an end for Van Gaal’s era in charge of Oranje.
Now please send some of the players like blind out. No use. There is no reason why he started today.
u 100% right!!
=, i got to say …Oh my god , what a heart breaking GAME!! i m really sad!!!
-Argentina were horrible with their dark arts, constant falling over , and acting
-Argentina were like playing at home,, i wonder where are the dutch fans?!!
-again Bergwijn and De roon were so disappointing and Memphis was not upto the occasion..
– the ref was terrible and I wonder how Argentina finished the game with 11 players on the pitch!!
-i thought the subs from van gaal were so good! .. Berghuis was mesmerizing with his passion , distribution and his threat in the final third.
– Weghorst was clinical and effective too.
-As I expected before the WC, the orange will have issues on that left back position due to the pace of Blind, and you saw how he was out run by the guy who scored the first goal .
-I thought that the orange were miles better after replacing blind and switching to 4 at the back.
-I have to say that i was impressed by come back from the team after that passive first 70 minutes.
-the worst thing in the game in my opinion was the penalty that was gifted to Argentina by the unnecessary challenge from Dumfries.what were u thinking for god sake!!!!! it was terrible costly mistake which made us forget his heroics against USA.
-i was in disbelief .. I never thought that the team will just sit back after that dramatic equalizer ,,i was expecting that we would go and pressurize them in the extra time but that was not the case and once the ref whistled for the Penalty kicks , I knew that it was over!
– My moment of the tournament will always be when we scored that equalizer , it was a pure moment of madness and i will never forget that!! Thanks to Van Gaal and the team for the shown spirit in the WC and let us hope for a better display in the nations league and the upcoming Euros with Koeman.-
Now please send some of the players use less out. No use. There is no reason why he started today.
Typical Van Gaal tactics tonight. Keep the ball for 75 minutes and do nothing with it. Then put two tall number 9s into the box and play long balls. Netherlands did not deserve to go through. Before the game Van Gaal said it is easy to stop messi but they completely failed to do it.
If he thinks he can play this kind of football and win the world cup then he must be dreaming. Tonight he showed why Man UTD sacked him. He had 2 world class center backs on the bench but he thought Van Dijk alone would stop the Argentine attack. What a mistake. He should have played Van Dijk with De Ligt or De Vrij. A top manager would’ve known how to stop the Argentine attack with the defenders Van Gaal had. Argentina could have easily scored 3 goals. Netherlands were very lucky the game went to penalties.
4 Word Cup Penalties lose 3
4 Euro Penalties lose 3
Why bother, next time just give up and skip the penalty. Won’t win anyway.
Before the WC LVG should know it’s very likely to meet Argentina in quarter-final. The selection of players and tactics should be planned long way ahead for this match. Not very good in the first 75 min while in the last 15 min Oranje showed its true quality. The tactic of second goal was a surprise, but it’s not sufficient to bring Oranje to final 4.
In 2014 penalty kick vs Argentina, Ron Vlaar started for the penalty but missed. LVG did the same way again by starting with Van Dijk. And this failed again.
Hope to see more young talents to play in the coming Euro. Gakpo, Simons, Lang, Gravenberch, Summerville……
Keep on Oranje.
thanks for the great content!
From a fan of the orange,, i got to say …Oh my god , what a heart breaking GAME!! i m really sad!!!
-Argentina were horrible with their dark arts, constant falling over , and acting
-Argentina were like playing at home,, i wonder where are the dutch fans?!!
-again Bergwijn and De roon were so disappointing and Memphis was not upto the occasion..
– the ref was terrible and I wonder how Argentina finished the game with 11 players on the pitch!!
-i thought the subs from van gaal were so good! .. Berghuis was mesmerizing with his passion , distribution and his threat in the final third.
– Weghorst was clinical and effective too.
-As I expected before the WC, the orange will have issues on that left back position due to the pace of Blind, and you saw how he was out run by the guy who scored the first goal .
-I thought that the orange were miles better after replacing blind and switching to 4 at the back.
-I have to say that i was impressed by come back from the team after that passive first 70 minutes.
-the worst thing in the game in my opinion was the penalty that was gifted to Argentina by the unnecessary challenge from Dumfries.what were u thinking for god sake!!!!! it was terrible costly mistake which made us forget his heroics against USA.
-i was in disbelief .. I never thought that the team will just sit back after that dramatic equalizer ,,i was expecting that we would go and pressurize them in the extra time but that was not the case and once the ref whistled for the Penalty kicks , I knew that it was over!
– My moment of the tournament will always be when we scored that equalizer , it was a pure moment of madness and i will never forget that!! Thanks to Van Gaal and the team for the shown spirit in the WC and let us hope for a better display in the nations league and the upcoming Euros with Koeman.-
So for the 1000000 time:
You can’t just go and win WC QF with player like Blind who is reserve at Ajax because he’s too old and slow to play. Another crucial mistake on 1st goal for Argentina.
Worst part is now Koeman will take over and Blind will still play because his father is improtant figure in KNVB mafia.
Another 8 years lost.
I’ve been Oranje biggest fan since 1994 but I need to leave, this is not healthy. Good luck guys. Oranje will never win if KNVB won’t change.
Danny Blind (worst coach ever) cost us 2018 WC and now was assistant with his son “playing”. This can only happen in Holland.
Good job KNVB. You lost as always but good thing one Blind was on the bench and another on the pitch costing us another WC exit.
I’m done, this will never change.
Good luck.
Oranje pride for getting that far.
Think Van Gaal falls on his sword,
and gives birth to a creativity which should be urged from these players.
There were moments during the world cup when they had the good oil. They can get further in the Euros with someone like Koeman, who has been touched by Johan, and knows the demands of creativity, rather than the shirk of Van Gaal.
Nothing new the bad luck is a well known trait for the Netherlands and its supporters
First of all it is obvious for all that Fifa want this cup between messi and ronaldo especially for messi
Messi was playing a handball in the middle and stopped an attack which could make him on yellow and he also had another yellow afterwards so he could have been sent off
also Dumfries never touched Acuna for me it is never a penalty and messi after the match crying for the bad referee when Argentina was the most side who get the advantages with that shit referee
Secondly lets talk about our team
When you create something you are the one who knows how to destroy it that what didnt happen yesterday
they played the same way we played so it was Van Gaal chance to change the system earlier with 433 and a tall striker with speedy wingers which he have
but he waited for a long time to make this changes Luuk or Wout should have been one of them start at the start of the second half
another point we have seen how short Argentina players was so why not also bringing De ligt or De Vrij with Van dijk Ake and the two tall strikers we could have been a big threat in any set piece but he didnt take any advantage of that some small details could have been in our side but he didnt think about any of these
Lastly
I wanna thank all the players for their spirit and how they responded to being 2-0 down and getting an equalizer in the last chance
this team still has something to prove and i hope we bounce back again in the upcoming tournaments we have a good generation with ronald koeman
i feel sorry for VVD and Luuk de jong i think it is their last tournament with us i wished they lift that trophy
also for Van Gaal who i trusted and until now i still respect him as one of our best coaches ever it was a good World Cup but in the end it ends with a heartbreak like we used to see even in 2014,2010,1998,1978,1974
as long as we are alive we will still try
HUUP HOLLAND
Agree.
2nd goal of Argentina – it should not be a penalty
Messi’s deliberated hand ball – it should have been a yellow card with no doubt for any players in the world, but the fact is, except for him